Medical center cuts infection rates

Later this year, the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA’s) Hospital-Readmission Reduction and Value-based Purchasing programs begin impacting hospital payments based on their rates of infection, including Clostridium difficile.

Iris Verdi, environmental services (ES) manager, Overlook Medical Center, Summit, N.J., says while Overlook’s infection rates were on par with national averages, they have taken steps to improve performance on the measures that will impact reimbursement rates.

The 504-bed medical center, which serves as the anchor hospital for neurosciences in the Atlantic Health System, is one of six hospitals participating in a Joint Commission project to reduce C. difficile infections. In the project, participating hospitals and health networks are developing ways to eliminate barriers to effective infection prevention.